The Blue Devils experienced all of the above Sunday night against Creighton in the NCAA tournament, yet still managed to win a 66-50 taffy-pull.

Unsightly though it may have been on television, especially compared to Florida Gulf Coast’s theatrics, and the buzzer-beaters from LaSalle and Ohio State, the victory speaks to Duke’s resilience and versatility.

In advancing to the Sweet 16 for the 21st time in the last 28 years under Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils won with Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee saddled with foul trouble. They won shooting 38.8 percent, their worst accuracy in victory this season. They won with Seth Curry missing 7-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc, and Kelly going 0-for-5 from the field.

“I would have taken that before the game and rolled the dice with my chances,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said.

“I think today our team just came together on a different level than we have in a while,” Curry said.

Team was the word.

There was freshman Rasheed Sulaimon scoring 21 points, nearly double his average, and grabbing five rebounds. There was another rookie, Amile Jefferson, playing 11 critical minutes, scoring a bucket and snaring an offensive rebound that led to a Curry layup.

There was reserve guard Tyler Thornton with eight points, six rebounds and invaluable defensive work in 23 minutes. And finally, there were the seniors, Kelly and Plumlee playing wisely with four fouls each, and Curry making four of his final six shots.

“It took each and every one of us who played to get this win tonight,” Sulaimon said.

Duke (29-5) and Creighton (28-8) as two of the nation’s most efficient offenses. But instead of seamless and flowing, the game was rough and ragged.

The Blue Jays shot 30.2 percent, far and away their worst of the year. They made a season-low two 3-pointers on 19 attempts.

“I think both teams ramped it up on the defensive end,” Krzyzewski said.

Point guard Quinn Cook applauded Duke’s coaches for their scouting of Creighton.

“We knew exactly which player did what, and I think we made Doug McDermott work,” Cook said. “We made him work all night.”

A near-certain first-team All-American, McDermott scores inside with either hand. He makes a silly 47 percent of his 3-point attempts. And he never stops moving.

“McDermott is such a beautiful player,” Krzyzewski said on the eve of Sunday’s game. “He's really one of the best offensive players I've seen in the last decade in college basketball, because he's a counter puncher. They run stuff for him, and if it's not there, he sees if it's not there, and he goes right to his counter punch. He has another read.

“And many of his shots are made before he gets the ball. So that's a beautiful part of basketball, through offensive movement. If you just put one of those highlighters on him and watched him the entire time, he's so difficult to defend because you don't know exactly what he's going to do, and he's making his shot before he gets the ball.

“Now, he can make it after he gets the ball, too, but so many of it as he gets it and he does something with it. Just a tremendous basketball player, and his dad and his staff have done a great job of giving him that freedom and the movements that they have.”

Kelly was the primary defender on McDermott, but his early foul trouble shifted the burden to others such as Jefferson and Josh Hairston. With Kelly and then Plumlee sidelined by fouls, Krzyzewski saw Thornton direct the defense.

“I really can’t say enough about him defensively,” Krzyzewski said of Thornton.

Up next for Duke: Friday’s Midwest Regional semifinals in Indianapolis against Michigan State.

Krzyzewski is 7-1 against the Spartans, 6-1 since Tom Izzo took over the program in 1995. Two of their encounters have occurred in the NCAA tournament.

Duke defeated Michigan State in a 1999 Final Four semifinal, and the Spartans beat the Blue Devils in the 2005 South regional semis.

Most recently, Duke bested Michigan State two seasons ago at Cameron in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and last season in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Duke certainly won’t mind the Indianapolis venue. The Blue Devils won national titles there in 1991 and 2010.

Just as they like Philadelphia. Sunday’s win makes them 6-0 in NCAA tournament play here.

The rap on Duke for much of the season has been defense, and indeed, in losses to Miami, North Carolina State, Virginia and Maryland, the Devils were lacking.

Not Sunday, when they needed it most.

“That (bad defense) stereotype is going to have to change,” Plumlee said, “if we want to keep moving on.”

I can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. Follow me at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP

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